"As well as being good friends, (Smyth and Torrance) are two guys I greatly admire both personally and professionally and I know they will be vital assets to me in Scotland," McGinley said.

"They were the first two people I had in mind for this role when I was appointed captain and, since then, I have talked to a lot of the experienced European players about having them as part of the team and, to a man, they have been very supportive of the idea.

"Des took me under his wing when I was a young rookie on Tour and gave me tremendous advice which was not only valuable then but has continued to ring true for me throughout my professional career.

"His views and ideas about The Ryder Cup particularly have consistently proved to be spot on and I really enjoyed working with him as a vice captain in 2006 when I was a player."

McGinley added that he is spoiled for choice when it comes to his other vice captains but he will only name them once he learns who has qualified automatically for the European team in September.

Among the possible candidates are Thomas Bjorn of Denmark and Spanish duo Miguel Angel Jimenez and Jose Maria Olazabal, who captained Europe to victory in 2012.

"It's quite clear a lot of potential further vice captains could more than likely qualify for the team," said McGinley.

"A lot of them would still like to make the team so I just don't want to distract them by talking about Ryder Cup and so they can focus on making the side."

Tom Watson, the captain of the American team, has also already unveiled two of his vice captains: Raymond Floyd, 71, and Andy North, 63.

WGC's Monstrous Start

Meanwhile, the opening action of the WGC Championship was suspended after dangerous weather affected the first day at the Blue Monster course at Doral.

American Jason Dufner had been top of the leaderboard, five under par after 10 holes, before the combination of a tornado watch and violent thunderstorms prompted a halt in play.

World No. 2 Adam Scott, who can replace Tiger Woods at the top of the rankings with victory, was level par -- with Woods, the defending champion, one over -- after both had gone through six holes.